Convert AVI to Animated GIF
See Also: Sound Stuff | Sound Conversion | PowerPoint and Video
By: Geetesh Bajaj
Date Created: August 23rd 2008
Last Updated: February 23rd 2009
This page starts with a question -- why would you even want to convert an AVI to an animated GIF? And that questions makes us aware of the limitations in the latter format that don't survive the conversion. Of course, the first thing you lose is any sound in the AVI -- and you also end up with something of a lower quality. But as a proof of concept, this can be done -- just make sure you read all the guidelines before you begin.
Here's what you need to get started:
- Before you begin, make sure you have Microsoft GIF Animator installed -- you can get Microsoft GIF Animator from any of the links provided on the product's Wikipedia page. This is an old product but since it is simple and freeware, it's perfect for the tutorial on this page.
- Although there's no mention about this anywhere, Microsoft GIF Animator continues to work well even in the newest versions of Windows, including Windows Vista!
- There are several other products that can do the same thing -- I just chose Microsoft GIF Animator because it is simple, capable, and free.
- You'll also need a sample .AVI file to convert -- you can get many .AVI sample files online, or get this free sample...
Here's what you should know:
- Animated GIFs include no sound -- so expect no sounds in the output files.
- Since the animated GIF has to be simple, it's always good to start with a very simple AVI file that is both small in file size and dimensions -- if you plan to convert your video camcorder footage into animated GIFs, you're clearly reading the wrong tutorial -- and trying the impossible. And of course, Microsoft GIF Animator will choke with your AVI file!
- Again, to understand what sort of AVIs you can work with, download
our free sample AVI here...
Follow these steps to do the conversion:
- Launch Microsoft GIF Animator by choosing the Windows Start Menu
| All Programs | Microsoft GIF Animator. This opens Microsoft GIF
Animator interface. Click Open option in the toolbar
as shown in Figure 1.
Figure 1: Click the Open option.
- This brings up the Open dialog box that you can see in Figure
2. Select the AVI file which you want to convert -- and then
click the Open button.
Figure 2: Select .AVI file and click Open.
Note: You may not see the .AVI file extension in the dialog box shown in Figure 2 by default -- to view file extensions, you can learn how to enable them here...
- Once you open it, Microsoft GIF Animator automatically converts the AVI
to an animated GIF -- you can see the progress bar at the bottom of the
program window (see Figure 3).
Figure 3: Conversion process
- Thereafter you can save the animated GIF by clicking the Save button
on the toolbar, as shown in Figure 4. This creates an
animated GIF in the same folder as the original source AVI file.
Figure 4: Save
Note: To preview the resultant animated GIF, just drag it into an open web browser window.
